Many things have changed since November when we kicked off the 2010 fantasy baseball sleeper posts. For one, the date. For two, some of these guys are no longer that sleepery. For three, hut-hut-hike! As long as you don’t reach too far, sleepers can make all the difference on your team. You’re not grabbing a sleeper in the first round. You’re not like, “Hey, Drunky Cabrera, you walk that line, I’m going with Garrett Jones.” You should have a solid foundation in the first eight to ten rounds, then mix some sleepers in after that. If you click on the names for these players, there’s entire posts about them with their 2010 projections. Anyway, here’s some sleepers for 2010 fantasy baseball:

Colby Rasmus – In front of Pujols and Holliday might hinder Rasmus’ running game, but he should still be good for 15-20 homers and 10 to 15 steals.

Ian Stewart – Who is this Ian Stewart you talk of? I have never heard of him. Okay, no fooling, but the other night I had a dream that Ian Stewart had a complete collapse and was benched for Mora. Granted, the girl from Seymore Butts and Thomas Jefferson were also in the dream and I was smoking opium… Nevertheless! Stewart’s really not far away from sleeper sell material if you need to draft him in the top 100. 12th round or higher? Much better. (Side note, I was at a sushi restaurant the other day — Grey loves sushi as much as he loves referring to himself in third person. Was sitting at the sushi bar when a smoking hot girl sits down next me. It was the girl from Seymore Butts. I didn’t recognize her. You can giggle and say I’m lying. You’d be surprised how unrecognizable a porn star is in clothes. It’s like putting glasses on Clark Kent. So we start talking and she reveals who she is and asks me if I’d like a few free DVDs. She has them in her car, which is parked in the back. I agree; you would’ve too. Don’t judge. She gives me 5 DVDs. For those who aren’t hip to porn DVDs. Their covers are graphic. As we said goodbye, I realized I was parked in the front of the restaurant at a meter. Yes, I had to walk back through the restaurant to get to my car. I could’ve stuck the DVDs under my shirt, but I manned up, and walked very quickly. Still, everyone saw what I was carrying. The sushi chefs’ smiles were priceless. A group of women dining there looked at me like I was everything wrong with men. Finally, I get outside. Only to find a female meter maid giving me a ticket. I put the DVDs behind my back and rush up to her. Please, I tell her, I’m leaving right now. It’s already started. Buh-buh-but! Just then, a group of teenagers approach from behind me and start screaming, “Check out his videos! He’s a pervert!” Yeah, I took the parking ticket.)

Brandon Wood – The time appears now, unless Scioscia thinks the time is not now and he goes with The Figgy Duets (Maicer and Aybar). If Wood penetrates the lineup (sticking with today’s post theme), he could be Ian Stewart 10 rounds later.

Jay Bruce – If Bruce does what he’s capable of, he will be overrated in 2011.

Dexter Fowler – Sorry, even sometimes I admire my own work and the post title under Fowler’s name is classic. And I don’t even get Showtime! Fowler is in the unenviable position of a crowded outfield. If he stumbles out of the gate, I could see his time being reduced.

Carlos Gonzalez – I’ve been meaning to write an entire post on this, but Spring Training’s falling through the hourglass, so this post will have to do. CarGo has to deal with a crowded outfield too. Somehow CarGo’s risen way up draft sheets while Fowler’s stayed pretty reasonable. A 10/30 season from Fowler seems as likely as a 20/20 season from CarGo. No reason CarGo should be priced that much higher. I have CarGo about 20 places higher in my rankings. Yet, I hear people returning from a draft where Fowler isn’t drafted at all and CarGo is going in the first 100 picks. Huh?

Chris Davis – I’m a sucker for low average, high power, some speed guys. It’s the new three outcome player.

Garrett Jones – Everyone seems to think Garrett Jones can’t build on his 2009. And I’m kinda in that group. But still, the Pirates will play him and he’s not exactly being drafted that high.

David Price – I gotta be honest, I’ve seen Price in drafts and I’ve had a hard time pulling the trigger. I just picture myself curled up in a ball crying while watching him pitch against the Yankees or Red Sox.

Carlos Quentin – If he can stay healthy, he’ll be overrated next year. *fingers crossed*

Denard Span – Yeah, he’s pretty yawnstipating, but there’s a place for that on some teams. (Damn, that was the worst sales pitch since David Price’s blurb.)

Geovany Soto – When he showed up camp forty pounds lighter, Soto said, “I used to be a little sluggish — like ‘I want to take a nap.’ Now I feel great and I just want to put myself in the best position to help the club.” Sounds like a line from an afterschool special about how marijuana is a gateway drug.

Elvis Andrus – I’ve almost convinced myself that Andrus is going to be as valuable this year as Jose Reyes circa 2008. Almost. Like in a game of horseshoes. A game of horseshoes!

I won the game of horse shoes. Now you owe me a watermelon.
Targeting Bruce or Quentin in my drafts. If one goes, I’m grabbing the other. Hard to fine 30 bombs where these guys are going in drafts. Fingers crossed.

a pervert huh,the 1st step to recovery is admitting the problem,nice problem to have,ive had a few worse,recovery times may vary,side effects are rappid increase in eyesight and sudden outburst of anger

@Mikey boy324: i’d be looking at someone like j-up and maybe zimmerman with your 2nd and 3rd. though might be a little early for zimmerman. if one of the howard/fielder/teixeira/cabrera group of 1Bs falls to the end of the 2nd round, i’d go there (probably howard or cabrera have the best shot from what i’ve seen).

Grey
Drafted my money league team last weekend. The league was either drunk or just stupid and went on a closer run for the ages…basically every closer was taken between rounds 8-12 leaving me with only one, because I was not drunk or stupid. Besides saves, what other areas do I need help?

so i have never done an auction draft, just snake drafts until this past sunday evening. i inherited a team in a 12 team roto keeper league. i kept fielder and cano for solid value. most of the upper level 3Bs are kept, and the ones that aren’t (wright) goes for way more than i feel confident paying for wright (i am not a big wright believer like some). i’ve been saying all along i was probably gonna target 2/3 of the stewart, beltre, cantu triumvirate in hope of grabbing the 1 of them that has a big year (in this league, stewart only has 3B eligibility cause that’s where he is listed on the depth chart until he plays 20 games elsewhere). beltre ends up going for like $15 which was too rich for me. it’s late in the draft and everyone has 3B filled, i’ve been sitting on nominating stewart. me and another guy have the most $$ by like $20 left (the other guy already had wright). unfortunately for me, we had gone h2h on a couple of other guys that we were both targeting that i ended up winning. i finally go for it and nominate stewart hoping to snake him, the other guy imediate bumps the bidding up to $10, next thing i know i end up paying $19 freaking for stewart just to ensure i’m not trotting david freese out as my starting 3B. my saving grace was that i still had more $$ after the stewart pick than most of the other teams, and there wasn’t really anyone else out there that i had to have that would cost me that much. obviously i know i overpayed, but sometimes you gotta do it i guess. if stewart had been nominated early in the draft, i’d have gotten out of the running long before his price got that high. i even managed to get cantu a little later for $5 to give me a stewart insurance policy.

anyway, here’s my team. i know i am very light on steals and heavy on power, and my staff is a bit scary, but people were throwing out serious dough at every half decent SP. i am hoping in season i’ll be able to trade some power bats for the speed/SPs i need.

oh yeah, and it’s weekly lineups, so having a stable of SPs for streaming isn’t as important as it is for daily lineups. roto scoring. 12 teams.

C napoli
1B fielder
1B gonzalez (was a steal at the price, really meant to drive him up but ended up winning him, now he’s my stud util guy)
2B cano
2B eric young jr ($1 flier in hopes he makes the team and gives me a boat load of SBs)
SS alexei
SS desmond (another $1 flier)
3B stewart
3B cantu
OF lind
OF pence
OF hart
OF bruce
OF ibanez
OF blanks
OF rasmus

i know i have a bunch of OFs, but it was late and those guys were going for cheap. i don’t have to have bruce/blanks/rasmus to even live up to their potential because i have a solid OF anyway without them, but if they do, then i have great keeper prospects and some serious trade chips.

i was proud to have spent the least amount of $$ on RPs and still get marmol.

@ThePoonTycoon: Thats what I was thinking my draft is on espn so I’ve even seen holliday slip to that spot would you rather have holliday or upton?…I seen that news on santana i really hope it’s not like last year and screws him up I’ve been targeting him in all my drafts

Grey – You have outdone yourself with this post!! The best ever….. The Stewart piece was hilarious!! I have four of these guys in my main league! (Stewart, Sanchez, Price & Fowler)…… and I will be the guy in the corner when Price goes up against the Yanks and BoSox.

Please take a look if you’re interested (we’re keeping 20, that’s not in the settings yet) and let me know via e-mail. I will be unable to check e-mail until late tonight and will respond tomorrow morning. I’ve been carefully “screening” owners for this league to make sure it’s the best group possible. Be assured we have a very solid group of owners.

Please send me a couple of lines about why you want to join, why you’d be good. That will help. Please respond by e-mail: dw.reds@gmail.com

Grey: Please accept my apologies for hijacking the comments for this. I just know I’ll get the best “applicants” here.

@Mikey boy324: holliday is the safer option, and will give you the avg and batting behind pooholes, probably a lot more RBIs. upton’s ceiling is a lot higher. i’d give upton the edge in speed, holliday the edge in avg, RBIs, and Rs, and call power about even.

1 year league, definitely holliday. keeper league would probably depend on your keeper rules, but probably close to even.

@Tony:
He went 10th in my RCL but I remember a while ago a commentensaod he went like 8th or 7th in his. Surprisingly enough most of the sleepers went at an acceptable round. Dirty Sanchez went in the 18th for example. But if you like to employ the 4-5 RP strategy, Youll have to be careful. Soria lasted until the 10th, but shaky guys like Rauch were gone by the 17th. I did manage to snag lindstrom and Madson in the 20th and 21st.

Idk, it really depends on how your league mates draft in the first few rounds. Mine went straight for OF and corner guys, so you may wanna keep that in mind.

@Grey

That was an epic story. The moment my gf leaves class I’m shoving my iPhone in her face so she can read it.

@Rudy Gamble: Ahh Rudy, the voice of reason. I’m aiming for Conor with one of my last picks in every draft as a 5th OF/Bench type. I agree, this guy batting 2nd, or 1st, will get on base and may run more than some think. He’s healthy now and could be a late round steal.

Grey,
Incredible post! Love the AD ref. You are in some kind of zone these days… is everything happening in slow motion for you? I’ve got three of the guys on this list, including Price as my #5 SP (who I’m nervous about). I was also tageting Quentin, Dirty Sanchez and Davis but missed out on those three…all taken by the same guy by the way…I smell another Razzballer up in my shizz

I wonder if Grey asked for some digits first then was shot down and offered the DVDs so she could keep her “fan”
It’s happened to me like that… But my pornstar story didn’t involve a sushi restaurant, public humiliation or meter maids so it was not nearly as hilarious.

Grey – Was the girl from Seymour Butts, and the meter maids part of your dream sequence, or a real life episode? At any rate, no one will remember a thing that you said after Ian Stewart, and although all your 99.99% male fans are salivating, your sparse number of female fans will probably collapse completely, except for the more narcissitic gals, if there are any of those in fantasy baseball land.

@ThePoonTycoon: You had me at triumvirate. I agree with everything you said about your team. 7 outfielders? Wow. You really punted SBs too. Ervin should be fine from what I’ve heard. Porcello, I don’t think the same of.

Grey. Was she as impressed with your career as you are with hers? Running a fantasy baseball sight and writing funny quips for taco bell hot sauce packets are every woman’s dream of an ideal match. Did she talk to you because of your porn stache?

If anyone is interested….i need a couple of guys for a 12 team yahoo league…AL/NL roto..the draft is sunday at 8:30….$100 entry..i’ve been in this league for over 10 years….highly competitive….email me if you have any questions/interest….ikenski@yahoo.com

@Grey: yeah, things just kinda fell that way. guys were throwing big money around on pitching on guys i didn’t feel comfortable with. like when given the option of $15 on dempster or $6 on slowey, i took the $6 on slowey. hopefully, one/all of my young OFs end up having nice starts and i can quickly pair one of them with alexei for andrus/escobar + a nice SP.

@Grey: Here’s an idea – If ESPN can actually get fantasy cretins to pay for their “Insider” columns (Imagine turning over cash to read a Karabell column. My intestines are beginning to writhe in turmoil), why can’t you have “Razz-side” material for the Daquiri crowd? Not your fantasy acumen, but some of your other stuff, like your dream sequences, inimitable headings, and the stuff that gets us to spit up our caffeinated beverages in the AM? Just a thought…

BTW, every mock I have been in – I get Fowler untouched into the early twenties, and Cargo is gone well before that…

@Grey: another thing to note, i am not the only team to punt steals, so even if i don’t pull a trade i like for speed, i am not assured of getting only 1 point in the category. obviously i am hoping for the best here, but maybe i can will 20 SBs apiece out of alexei, hart, and pence. and maybe stewart puts on an all out mini-donkey show complete with 20+ SBs? likely? no. but they are all capable of it, just whether they want to.

@Paulie Allnuts: i dont know freds strategy at all, even from reading his posts haha, he seems to be a BIG #’s guy… i’m just gonna roll with the punches, and i’m basically just planning on punting ian stewart, i say fred takes him in the 9th round, or he MIGHT just listen to grey and wait?

@Elijah: borbon over fowler for 2010 imo. but fowler is vastly being overlooked.

that said, not sure who i’d tell you to drop though. i really like rasmus as a post-hype sleeper this season. with pooholes and holliday behind him, he’s gonna be getting fastballs to drive and he should score 100 runs easy if he gets on base. not as high on headley as some are, though he gets a bump for being 3B. maybe one of you RPs? do you start more than 2 at a time?

Its HtH, but 7×7 with OPS, Total Bases, Losses, and BAA. I typically throw all 5 RP’s out every week to dominate Sv’s and chip in K’s, hopefully even lower my starters WHIP, ERA, etc. (I have Aardsma too, typo there)

As of yesterday morning.
“ue, Mar 23
Chapman’s back injury likely ensures that Chapman doesn’t begin the year as the Reds’ fifth starter, the Cincinnati Enquirer speculates.
Recommendation: Even though it’s just speculation, it makes sense. Chapman hasn’t pitched more than three innings in a game yet, and only reached three innings once. There’s also some concern about him pitching in cold weather. Factor in that the Reds won’t need a fifth starter until April 11, and it’s reasonable to expect that he’ll either start in the minors or in the bullpen.
(Rotowire.com)”

Seems like Im starting to get the hang of this thing. I remember considering Rajai Davis in like r16 and figured nah…someone will drop cheap steals on waivers why bother. Voila, there’s both Borbon and Fowler.

@Tony: The guy had an incredible year, he has to be worth a late round flyer, no? I know it is only the spring but he is pitching fairly well. Pitchers do come back from injury(Carpenter) but then again some don’t(Schmidt).

@majortommy: Ya he did have ONE good year, it was awesome, but he’s had 3 other HORRIBLE years, his one good year was in 2007…. Carmona is not of the Carpenter pedigree. I hope he bounces back, i can see him as a flyer, but its kind of a coincidence ESPN runs an article and someone posts about him being picked up in their league…. REAL BASEBALL hasnt’ started yet either, not much has changed in my eyes….

I’m not following the Fowler – CarGo comparisons at all. Granted, I am coming from a Keeper League perspective. CarGo will probably be at least top 50 overall next year. I doubt that Fowler will. Fowler will lose at bats. I doubt CarGo will. If you’re looking for steals…
CarGo 12 net 278 ABs
Fowler 17 net 433 ABs

@Grey: I’m joining a keeper league that drafts Sunday, need some input…
11 teams, up to 6 keepers, keepers kept in first 6 rounds
First two rounds will be me and one other team, then rounds 3-6 will be the two of us and another team who only kept 2, so I’ll have lots of early picks…
3 OF, No MI/CI, 1 Util, 5×6(holds)

What would your strategy be? I don’t know if I’ll have picks 1-4-5 or 2-3-6 in the first two rounds, but I’m hoping to get Upton, Zimmerman and Votto with those picks…If Zimmerman goes, I figure I’ll be able to grab Youk and not lose much production, and if Votto goes, Derrek Lee should be available a few rounds later (Many teams kept 1B, and no CI)…thoughts?

@Elijah: That’s what I’m thinking, I had a high ankle sprain pretty early in my junior football season and thought I’d be back in a few weeks, and the damn thing still bugs me occasionally a year and a half later

I read one report that said it happened running the bases and he stayed in and scored a run before leaving, but another said it wasn’t yet determined when it happened, so who knows

Upton apparently injured the ankle in the top of the second inning when he stole second and advanced to third when the throw sailed into center field. Upton scored one batter later when Jeff Bailey singled.

….If he stayed in the game after the injury then sat down after scoring I doubt its too bad.

If we are talking about Upton in general tho, I get the idea from watching him hes gonna be one of those players who rarely gets more than 140 games a year in, so keep that in mind when drafting him.

@Pat: I think when you got Nolasco, you should’ve pulled back a bit on SPs. You had three in the top 8, it’s already a lot, didn’t need someone as good as Slowey, but you could’ve used a better bat. Relying on Pierre, Bartlett, Weeks, Cantu, Matsui, Podsednik, Coghlan… You might not get more than 30 homers from them, in total. Puts a real drain on the rest of your hitting.

Thanks Grey,
I agree. I totally freaked out about my lack of power when I saw Pierre and Ellsbury in my OF around round 12. I was like ‘I NEED POWER, WHERE THE HELL IS SOME POWER!!!’ I tried to address this by taking Weeks (over Howie and Palanco), Posada at Catcher, and McGehee. I wasn’t planning on Ellsbury, but at pick 35 I thought he was good value. I just hope Pierre steals like 10 bases the first couple games so I can trade him.

About my SP, I agree I went heavy here, but I disagree that Slowey was a poor pick at 134. I few him as Nolasco from last year with a little less k”s